Willowbank Wildlife Reserve is a wildlife park and

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, New Zealand.Willowbank Wildlife ReserveNew Zealand Tourism Guide
As well as having public displays of various animal species it also carries out conservation of native species including

tuatara Tuatara (''Sphenodon punctatus'') are reptiles endemic to New Zealand. Despite their close resemblance to lizards, they are part of a distinct lineage, the order Rhynchocephalia. The name ''tuatara'' is derived from the Māori language and ...

kiwi Kiwi most commonly refers to: * Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand * Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders * Kiwifruit, an edible berry * Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...

brown teal The brown teal (''Anas chlorotis''; mi, pāteke) is a species of dabbling duck of the genus '' Anas'' native to New Zealand. For many years it had been considered to be conspecific with the flightless Auckland and Campbell teals in ''Anas auck ...

, and Duvaucel's gecko. Willowbank also holds the only pair of takahe on display in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

of New Zealand outside a Department of Conservation facility. Rata

About

Willowbank houses 95 species that are divided into three sections: exotics, heritage farmyard and New Zealand natives. The exotics section house species from far and wide including blue and gold macaws, scarlett macaws,

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

small-clawed otter The Asian small-clawed otter (''Aonyx cinereus''), also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its we ...

ring-tailed lemur The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' g ...

black-and-white ruffed lemur The black-and-white ruffed lemur (''Varecia variegata'') is an endangered species of ruffed lemur, one of two which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Despite having a larger range than the red ruffed lemur, it has a much smaller populat ...

star tortoise A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth mak ...

leopard tortoise The leopard tortoise (''Stigmochelys pardalis'') is a large and attractively marked tortoise found in the savannas of eastern and southern Africa, from Sudan to the southern Cape. It is the only extant member of the genus ''Stigmochelys'', althoug ...

and green iguana . The heritage farmyard section works alongside the Rare Breeds Conservation Society holding and breeding species of farm animals that are dying breeds including Arapawa goats, Damara sheep, Enderby Island rabbits and

zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus'' or ''Bos taurus indicus''), sometimes known in the plural as indicine cattle or humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of domestic cattle originating in the Indian sub-continent. Zebu are characterised by a fatty ...

. The New Zealand natives section houses species from around New Zealand including kea, kaka, North Island brown kiwi, South Island brown kiwi, Okarito brown kiwi, great spotted kiwi,

morepork The morepork (''Ninox novaeseelandiae''), also called the ruru, is a small brown owl found in New Zealand, Norfolk Island and formerly Lord Howe Island. The bird has almost 20 alternative common names, including mopoke and boobook—many of ...

New Zealand falcon The New Zealand falcon ( mi, kārearea or ''kāiaia''; ''Falco novaeseelandiae'') is New Zealand's only falcon. Other common names for the bird are Bush Hawk and Sparrow Hawk. It is frequently mistaken for the larger and more common swamp harrie ...

and

. Willowbank supports and works alongside charitable organisations such as the New Zealand Conservation Trust and The South Island Wildlife Hospital.

History

Willowbank Wildlife Reserve first open their doors in October 1974.

References

External links

Willowbank Wildlife ReserveSouth Island Wildlife HospitalNew Zealand Conservation TrustRare Breeds Society
Tourist attractions in Christchurch Zoos in New Zealand Parks in Christchurch Wildlife sanctuaries of New Zealand Nature reserves in New Zealand {{CanterburyNZ-geo-stub

About

History

See also

References

External links